Hopper



w. HQ MccLELLAND HOPPER Filed June 2, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jeune 19, `1928. I'

iUNlrEDsTATEsi ,PATENT,foFmai WILLIAM H. MC'CLELLAND; for HUNTINGDQN, 15ENNsYLvifiNIA,v iss'IGNoR'To Davis BRICKMACHINERY COMPANY, k0F MOUNT UNoN, PENNSYLVANIA- HOPPER,

Appli-cation sied June 2,1926. yserial No. 113,279. y

invention relates kto improvements in brick making machines and Ais morev partie` ularly directed to means employed thereinI for depositing green mud, `from which the brick is formed, into molds as -they are moved toward thel baking furnace, or .their discharge position.

It is the object of my invention to providev .means for depositing with-in each molda certain amount of green mud, and means for operating said first mentioned means from suitable driving or ydriven .shafts of the machine proper. Y Y .Y

A further ob'ect kof my invention is to provide a plurality of hoppers', ,each having a movablebottom, so positioned within the machinethat as the molds travel thereunder green mud is deposited therein.x f

vStill another object of myinvention is .to provide means for permitting the ready dis4b charge of the green mud from the lhopper without the danger of the mud. sticking thereto and breaking. w Y j Heretof-ore, in hoppers of this character it-has usually been the custom to close. the

sainey with hinged (doors, which Vinth-eir actual use I have found to lbe more or less unsuccessful due tothe factv thatthe `doors are not positionedfin such la'I'nannerf'as tov permit the mud to drop. freely-,fromr the hopper without the danger of the mudfols lowing the doors inV their movement, thereby; breaking the batch of mud and creatinga wardly ,diverging side and vend i wa.lls,thus eliminating the possibility of mud sticking thereto. rPhe bottom Vof the hopper is Yclosed by a pair of downwardly converging platesV whichfare pivoted remote from the discharge openingofv the hopper, thus permitting the plates toswing. away from the opening `and change ltheir angle during such movement so that green mud contained within, the

hopper will not Stich` thereto andfbe broken when the plates ing.

.- Another object ofmy invention-is to pro- To accomplish 4this fea-4 are moved free of the openv kvide automatic means for returning the. movable bottom of the hopper back toits activeposition. f

lVith the above and other objects in view,

the nature ofvwhich will be more fully understood from the description hereinafter,

my invention consists in y'the novel construction and arrangement of parts which will be moreffully hereinafter. 'set forth' and defined in rthe claims. y y f.

In the accompanyingldrawingss;

i Figurel lis a side, elevationf'of my im.

proved mold filling hoppers.

' Figure 2 is an eiid elevation ofthe same..

' Figure 3 is a top plan -view of one of the hoppersand its operating means. Figure 4. is a vertical sectionalvi'ew taken through one ofthe hopp'ers'. f

Figu-rel is a sectionalfview taken on the line 5 5 of Figure 4. i k1 Figure 6 is a. detailviewfof the operating arm, and

= `Figure 7 is a detail vliew showing a modi-v fication of the hopperioperating means.-

Referring to the accompanying drawings in detail, wherein likeireference 4chucacters several views, thenumeral vlindicates, vin general, lthe frame of a brick making niachine, the samehaving mounted vtherein my within lthe machine, with' respect to the mold kcarrying conveyor, that material which is deposited withinvr each hopper may be readily transferred tothe molds id it is my intention to provide a hopper of a size somewhat'narrower than that "of the 'm'olds,l thus preventing the material fromdropping out of thelimits of the molds and to vallow th'eair to be excluded. y

The fram'el 'is provided with 'a'plurality 'improved hoppersand` the operatingI means 1 therefor.' The hoppe'rs A" are so positioned of side angle irons Qbetween' which IA-have i mountedmy, improvedhoppers A, the same adapted to overlie the mold carrying means.r

As disclosed-in Figure 4;, each hopper A is `composed of a pair of'spaced end plates 3 which are connected adjacent their edge portions, and near the upper port-ion thereof, by a pair of lspaced and downwardlyof which are Vsecured to the plates 3 by angle irons 5. The plates 3 are further connected by a second pair of spaced and downwardly diverging side plates 6, the upper edge of each being positioned under the lower edge of the corresponding upper side plate L1, and the end portion of each plate ti is likewise secured to the end plates 3 by angle irons 7. As illustrated in Figure 5 it will be noted that the width' and length of each hopper increases downwardly toward the discharge opening, thus forming tapering sides to prevent the green mud from sticking thereto.

Each hopper A is supported between the side bars 2 by bolts or the like 8 which pass through the upper edge portions of the end plates 3.

Positioned upon each side of the hopper are shafts 9 and 9 which are rotatably mountedwithin suitable bearings 10 secured to the upper face of the side bars 2. In

order to permit the shafts 9 and 9 to be pof' end of apitmanvrod 16.

sitioned somewhat near the side walls of the hopper VI have provided within the end plates 3' cutout portions 3 to receive therein the shafts.

That portion of each shaft 9 and 9 which is positioned between the end plates 3. has

secured thereto, adjacent each end platey a bushing 11, and loosely connected to'eacli shaft and between the bushing 11 and the end plate 3 is a pair of downwardly extending arms 12, the lower portions of which are bent inwardly under the discharge opening of the hopper and have secured thereto plates 13 which form'the closures for the hoppers. @ne end portion of each shaft 9 and 9 has secured thereto ntermeshing gears 14, so that movement of one shaft will be accordingly transmitted to the' other. The other endof the shaft 9 has secured thereto an arm 15, the free end portion of which is pivotally connected to the upper The lower end portion of the rod 16 is threaded andadjustably received within a threaded opening provided in the end portion of a weighted arm 17, the rod being locked in its adjusted position by means of a locking nut 18.

The lower portion of the weighted arm 17 is provided with a longitudinally extending' slot 19 which receivestherein a sliding block 20,`the same having passing therethrough, and rotatable therein, the end portion of a shaft 21 which is rotatably mounted within bearings 22 fixed to certain of the uprights of the main frame 1. The outer end of the shaft 21 has fixed thereto a cam 23, the same being retained upon the shaft by a plate 24 having a collar through which passes a locking pin 26. Engageable with the periphery of the cam 23A is a roller 27 which is freely rotatably connected to thearm 17 and positioned above the cam.

v to the cam 23, which in turn will move the arm 17 upwardly upon the block 2Q, thus causing the shaft 9 to oscillate, and by reason of the fact that the shaft 9 is connected Y to the shaft 9 by the gears 141, the shaft 9 will' likewise oscillate, thereby controlling the closing of the plates 13. To move the plates 13 to a closing position for the hopper l have provided upon each shaft 9 and 9, and fixed thereto, an arm l() which upon movement of the shafts in one direction will engage the rear edg-e of the plates 13 and' move them to a closing position'. When the shafts are again rotated in a reversed direction, the engagement of the arms l0 with the plate 13 is broken and by reason of springs 28 the plates aremoved to opening position.

rlhe springs 28 have one end connected to each arm 12 and the other` end of same are connected to suitable portions of the main frame 1 while others are connected to a bracket fastened to the frame. r

trated a modification of the means for moving the plates 13, which includes positive means for rotating the shafts in their o-ppo- As disclosed in Figure 7 I vhave illussite directions, thus eliminating the use of the weighted arms 17. To this end I have fixed upon the shaft 21 a pair of Voppositely positioned cams 30 and 31 between which the arm 17 4 is positioned and connected to the shaft 21 inthe manner described in the preferred form. The opposite side of the arm 17 has fixed thereto rollers 32 which are positioned in such a manner as toengage the periphery of the cams 30 and 31 upon opposite sides ofthe shaft 21. From this structure it will be clearly apparent that the cam 30, upon its rotation, will move the shafts in one direction, while the cam 31 will move them in another. y

In the drawings land the above description. Ihave `not illustrated nor described the operation of the mold carrier as it will -of course be understood that the same may be in any form and its operation with respect to that of the hopper operating means will be suchthat will permit the molds to stop under the hoppers to receive therein the green mud. Furthermore, I may employV in this structure means similar lto that disclosed in my copending application filed June 2. 1926, and bearing Serial No. 113,280, for holding the hopper closed until at such time as the arms 40 have moved outwardly sufiicient to permit the bottom to move under the iniuence of the springs. :V

From the foregoing, it is thoughtthat the construction, operation fand many advan-y tages of the herein described invention willr be apparent to those skilled in the art, Without -further description, and it Will be un* derstood `that various changes inthe size,

shape, proportion and minor details of con-r struction may be'resorted to Without depart-v ing from the spirit or sacrilioing any of the advantages of the invention. Having thus fully described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secureV wardly converging side plates connectedV to said endwalls adjacent the upper ends of the former, additional side plates forming continuations ofsaid first mentioned plates, said additional plates gradually diverging from Yeach other from their upper to their lower ends to form an enlarged discharge bottom, and operable means for normally closing the said enlarged bottom of the hopper.

In testimony `whereof I aflizrz, inyv signature.

VWiLLiAiii H. MCCLELLAND.y 

